Microsoft confirms Surface Pro 5 won’t arrive this year

Microsoft’s Surface chief Panos Panay recently said that users should not to expect a Surface Pro 5 anytime soon.

No Surface Pro 5 coming our way

If you have been waiting for Microsoft to announce the Surface Pro 5 tablet, you should take your mind off it as “there’s no such thing as a [Surface] Pro 5,” according to the Surface Chief. This is sad news for many who were hoping that Microsoft would reveal a new Surface Pro device at its forthcoming event in Shanghai. Panay himself gave fans some hints on his Instagram account, saying that it would see some sort of Microsoft Surface hardware unveiling.

When will the Surface Pro 5 arrive?

The fact that Panay said that “there’s no such thing as a [Surface] Pro 5,” is solid proof that Microsoft won’t announce any Surface Pro 5 device this year. However, Panay didn’t say that there never was or would never be a Surface Pro 5. This means that the company could indeed introduce the Surface Pro 5 in 2018. Only time will tell if this guess has a grain of truth in it.

Microsoft’s Surface strategy

This also raises some concerns regarding Microsoft’s larger Surface strategy. The Surface Pro 4 tablet hasn’t received a significant update since it was launched back in 2015. Now, the company is blaming the age of the Surface Pro 4 and increased Windows tablet competition for the 26% fall in Surface business from the end of 2016.

Panay said that Microsoft is looking for some “meaningful change” before it launches another tablet in an interview with CNET pointing to a “experiential change” that would have a bigger impact on the way that people use it, like lower weight or enhanced battery life, for instance. If Microsoft can’t come up with something much bigger, then why bother releasing it?

Whatever Microsoft launches next should be a meaningful upgrade of the Surface Pro 4. Unfortunately, this also means Surface Pro 4 users will have to look elsewhere for a premium Windows 10 tablet for upgrading.

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